Gospel of the day

https://www.telam.com.ar/notas/202310/643468-pope-francis-war-is-the-great-enemy-of-the-universal-dialogue-that-we-need.html
A crisis is a labyrinth. Also, a crisis makes you grow. Whether it’s a person, a family, a country or a civilization in crisis, if it is solved well, there is growth.
(...) Let’s think of any kind of political crisis, in a country that doesn’t know what to do, there are many in Europe. What can be done ? Shall we look for a messiah to come save us ? No. We must find where the conflict is and solve it. There is wisdom in the management of a crisis. But you can’t move forward without a conflict.

Austerity is taught through work. (...) Laziness is a social sickness. There are even rich lazy people who live off the work of others without thinking of the common good. (...) A person has dignity when they earn their living and they take care of other people.
The greatest treachery to that road to dignity is exploitation. I don’t mean exploiting the soil so it produces more, but exploiting the worker. (...) I have data regarding exploitation of labor in the world and they are huge.
When I say the things I wrote in the Social Encyclicals, some people say “the Pope is a communist”. I am not. The Pope reads the Gospel and speaks what is in the Gospel.

A country cannot have partial security unless there is integral security for everybody. I believe dialogue cannot be just nationalist, it must be universal, especially nowadays with the advanced communication systems we have.
Since the end of World War II up until today, there have been wars everywhere.

What circumstances foster or favor war?

Exploitation is one of the causes of war.
Another cause is geopolitical : territory control.
Some wars that seem endless are caused by cultural conflicts but in reality they are about territory control. Myanmar, for instance, has been at war for years and years, and the Rohingya people, who follow Islam, have been persecuted because of an elitist power who thinks they are superior (...)
I also believe that war is fostered by dictatorships.

Do you believe that uniting our consciousness, beyond our religious or political differences, is a way to begin the construction of peace and common good ?

Yes, absolutely yes, but with one condition : being aware of one’s own identity. You cannot dialogue with others if you are not aware of where you come from.
When two aware identities get together, they can have a conversation and take steps toward an agreement, toward progress, walk together. But if one is not aware of one’s own identity, one assumes things as one’s own and betrays one’s people, country or family.

If I, as a Catholic, have to talk to someone from other religion, I must be fully aware of being a Catholic and that the other person has the right to their religion.
But if I’m not aware of my own identity, I can’t have a conversation, I’m going to laugh at everything, I’m going to sell everything, to fake everything. I wouldn’t be truly consistent.

A theologist from the 4th Century said that changes in the Church must comply to three conditions to be real : consolidating, growing and ennoble themselves along the years. It is a very inspiring definition by Vincent of Lérins.

Is it hard being the representative of God on Earth, and at this time?

I’m going to do a heresy. We are all representatives of God. Every person who believes must testify to what they believe and, in this sense, we are all representatives of God.

Francis, what’s your relationship with God?

Ask Him (looks up and smiles).
I believe it’s an image, but there’s truth in it : I maintain the piety I had as a child. My grandmother taught me how to pray and I maintain that simple piety of praying, as we say in Argentina “the faith of a coal miner”. I’m not complicated when I pray. One might even say I have an old-fashioned spirituality. Maybe.
In this sense, there is a unifying thread from my childhood to this day. My religious consciousness has grown a lot, that’s different, it has matured, but the way I express myself to God has always been simple. Being complicated is not in me.
Sometimes I say (looks up) “you fix this, because I can’t”. And I ask the Virgen and the Saints to intercede, to help me.
And when I have to make a decision, I always pray…to the light above.
But the Lord is a good friend, He has been good to me. He takes care of me, as He takes care of all. We must pay attention to the way He takes care of each of us, He has a different style with each of us. That is beautiful.

Can one ever be angry at God?

No, I get angry with other people.
I might complain now and then, but I know He is waiting for me, always. When I make a mistake or when I was unjustly angry with someone. Yet, He never reproaches me. In my dialogue with the Lord, a reproach is always a caress. Today, I was reading Hosea Chapter 11, where he speaks of that caress, that love of God to each of us as if we were the image of that lamb he carries on his shoulders. The three qualities of God, the most forceful ones, are closeness, mercy and tenderness.

We always talk about faith, charity and love. And hope is in the kitchen, but that’s precisely why it’s our everyday virtue. We must not only keep our hope, but also nourish it.
Hope is so fecund ! (...) And theological hope is very humble but it seasons our daily condiments. It’s not escapism to think tomorrow might be better.

For now, every chapter of Zechariah is a succession of symbols, most of which are fortunately (partially )interpreted.
Zechariah 5:9 may have a role in the origin for this image of storks carrying babies, perhaps.

‭‭I looked up again and saw two women going out. There was a wind in their wings; their wings were like the wings of a stork. They carried the basket between the earth and the sky.

But here's the fourth&fifth verse of the seventh chapter :
Then the word of the LORD of heavenly forces came to me :
Say to all the land’s people and to the priests : When you fasted and lamented in the fifth month and the seventh month for these past seventy years, did you fast for me ?

[And from the height verse to the end :]
The LORD’s word came to Zechariah :
The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims : Make just and faithful decisions; show kindness and compassion to each other !
Don’t oppress the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor ; don’t plan evil against each other !
But they refused to pay attention. They turned a cold shoulder and stopped listening. They steeled their hearts against hearing the Instruction and the words that the LORD of heavenly forces sent by his spirit through the earlier prophets.
As a result, the LORD of heavenly forces became enraged. So just as he called and they didn’t listen, when they called, I didn’t listen, says the LORD of heavenly forces. I scattered them throughout the nations whom they didn’t know. The land was devastated behind them, with no one leaving or returning. They turned a delightful land into a wasteland.

[As a note, the term "LORD of heavenly forces" has many traductions : LORD of hosts(, King James version), LORD Almighty(, new international version) or LORD All-powerful(, contemporary english version), Adonai-Tzva'ot(, complete jewish bible), the LORD of the Armies is also a very common translation that i've seen many times]

Letter of St. Paul to the Romans (Rom 1:19-21-25) :
For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them.
Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made.
As a result, they have no excuse ; for although they knew God, they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks.
Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened.
(...)
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Surah "Al Imran"(, The Family of Imran) :

3:7 He is the One Who has revealed to you ˹O Prophet˺ the Book, of which some verses are precise—they are the foundation of the Book—while others are elusive.
Those with deviant hearts follow the elusive verses seeking ˹to spread˺ doubt through their ˹false˺ interpretations—but none grasps their ˹full˺ meaning except God.
As for those well-grounded in knowledge, they say, “We believe in this ˹Quran˺—it is all from our Lord.” But none will be mindful ˹of this˺ except people of reason.
[Is the last sentence an argument that a 'mindful' belief is also anchored in reason ?]

3:14
The enjoyment of ˹worldly˺ desires—women, children, treasures of gold and silver, fine horses, cattle, and fertile land—has been made appealing to people. These are the pleasures of this worldly life, but with God is the finest destination.
[Including in this world i.m.h.o]

3:28
Believers should not take disbelievers as guardians/allies instead of the believers—and whoever does so will have nothing to hope for from God—unless it is a precaution against their tyranny.
And God warns you about Himself.
And to God is the final return.

Saint of the day : St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop, Martyr in Rome